Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Ah, these wonderful books...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Laurie Viera Rigler's CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT, a literary homage, comedy, and exploration of identity, destiny, and the nature of time, that tells the story of a contemporary thirty-something LA woman and Jane Austen fan who wakes up inside the body of an Englishwoman in Austen's time, to Trena Keating at Dutton, at auction, for two books, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).

THRILLER:

Founder of the web site Backspace Karen Dionne's FREEZING POINT - already endorsed by Lee Child, David Morrell, Douglas Preston, Gayle Lynds, John Case and John Lescroart - in which extremists plot to stop an energy company from melting icebergs into drinking water - neither realizing that the water is contaminated with an unknown, deadly disease, to Natalee Rosenstein of Berkley, by Jeff Kleinman at Folio Literary Management.

GENERAL/OTHER:

Eleven Days of Hell: My True Story of Kidnapping, Terror, Torture and Historic FBI and KGB Rescue author Yvonne Bornstein and David Hagberg's BURNED, based on the author's true kidnapping story, to Tor/Forge, for publication in 2007, by Gleason Literary Agency and Kevin Cleary at Content House.

UK:

Taxonomist Sally Hinchcliffe's first novel THE YEAR LIST, a psychological thriller set in the world of obsessive bird-watching and pitched with the question, "imagine if you spent your whole time watching, only to find out that you were being watched yourself," to Maria Rejt at Picador, at auction, by Jake Smith-Bosanquet at Conville & Walsh (world English).Dutch rights to Querido, at auction, in a nice deal.M.Rejt@macmillan.co.ukJake@convilleandwalsh.com

CANADA:

Paul Quarrington's THE RAVINE, the story of three friends who are haunted by an incident from their youth and search for reconciliation at the mid-point of their lives, to Anne Collins at Random House Canada, for publication in spring 2008, by Don Sedgwick at Transatlantic Literary Agency.

NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY:

PETER JENNINGS: An Oral Biography, with an introduction by Lynn Sherr, including contributions from a wide array of influential public figures, to Kate Darnton at Public Affairs, for publication in fall 2007, by Esther Newberg at ICM (world).

Nigel Hamilton's BILL CLINTON: Mastering the Presidency, based on new interviews with key players inside and outside the Clinton administration, a study of the latest published literature and the benefit of historical perspective, to Lindsay Jones and Peter Osnos at Public Affairs, by the William Morris Agency (world).

Lisa Rogak's BARACK OBAMA IN HIS OWN WORDS, his views on 75 topics ranging from US politics, family, religion, war in Iraq, Affirmative Action etc., to Anita Diggs at Carroll & Graf, in a nice deal, by Scott Mendel at Mendel Media Group (NA).Scott@Mendelmedia.comanita.diggs@avalonpub.com

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

Drew Rosenhaus and Jason Rosenhaus's book of anecdotal business and negotiating advice, told in the context of a full NFL season by a top agent, to Natalee Rosenstein at Berkley, by Ian Kleinert at The Literary Group.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Michael Ross's THE VOLUNTEER: A Secret Life in the Mossad, the memoir of a converted Jew who served as a senior officer in Israel's legendary intelligence service, describing operations never before been revealed to the public, to Mark Weinstein at Skyhorse, in a nice deal, for fall 2007 publication, by Marilyn Biderman at McClelland & Stewart (US).

MEMOIR:

Former WorldCom internal auditor Cynthia Cooper's WHISTLEBLOWER BLUES: How Faith & Ethics Prevailed Over Corporate Greed at WorldCom, about the massive accounting fraud at WorldCom, ethics, faith and what happens when an ordinary person is hurled into the public view, to Sheck Cho at Wiley, by Lloyd Jassin (world).jassin@copylaw.com

POP CULTURE:

Neil Peart's ROADSHOW: Landscape With Drums, A Concert Tour by Motorcycle, a dual memoir of Rush's celebratory 30th Anniversary World Tour, 2004, and Peart's 19,000 global miles by motorcycle between concerts, and ROADSHOW: The Illustrated Companion, to John Virant at Rounder Books, by Paul McCarthy at McCarthy Creative Services (NA).paul mccarthy@mccarthycreative.com